Dr. Pearson's Observations and Experiments 
On examining the substance, he observed in it a very con- 
siderable resemblance to bees wax ; and noticed, moreover, 
that the animal which secretes it provides itself, by some 
means or other, with a small quantity of honey, resembling 
that produced by our bees ; and he complains in one of his 
letters, that the children whom he employed to gather it were 
tempted by its sweetness to eat so much of what they collected, 
as to diminish materially the produce of his crop. It is also be- 
lieved that the white lac possesses medicinal qualities. 
A small quantity of this matter was sent to the President m 
1789 ; but as there was not enough for the various experiments 
which suggested themselves to chemists who were consulted on 
the occasion, he wrote to Dr. Anderson for an additional 
quantity, who in 1792 furnished him with some pounds of it, 
both in its natural state, and melted into cakes, as also of the 
insects adhering to the branches on which they had been cul- 
tivated. , 
The curious analogy between the manner in which this in- 
sect produces its wax, and the mode in which it is produced 
by our bees, according to the late Mr. Hunter s observation, 
and the singularity of the animal's producing honey as well as 
wax were sufficient reasons, in point of abstract curiosity, to 
make an analysis very desirable ; and moreover the probabi- 
lity of its becoming an object of commerce seemed apparent : 
for it certainly can be provided at Madras at a much less price 
than is given for wax, even in the cheapest markets. I there- 
fore, at the request of the President, very willingly undertook 
the task of examining its chemical qualities, which are the 
subject of the following paper. 
It must be remembered, that all the authors w to escn 
